Catechesis is a unique kind of teaching.
You often have people in class who aren’t converted. They don’t agree with what you’re teaching or perhaps don’t care. When this happens, it’s your job to convince them to care.
Here’s four steps to help you engage your students and get them to care about what you’re teaching.
1. What’s your motivation?
Before you speak a single word, you need to get your own motivation straight. Why are you speaking to them? What do you want to happen?
It can’t just be that you want them to learn some facts about God. That’s not enough. For them to care you have to move them emotionally.
Don’t go in thinking you’re just going to teach the textbook lesson. Or, that they probably won’t care. Or, that you’re not doing any good.
Have in your head that they will benefit from this. Go in with the attitude that this is important. That it will change them for the better and help them in life.
If you let yourself feel that emotion and intention, your students will feel it as well. That’s how you will move them.
If you move their hearts, you’ll have their attention.
2. Know your audience
The second thing, know your audience. Don’t try to be interesting, be interested…in them!
Find out what moves them, what motivates them. What are they interested in? What are their problems and concerns? Use their interests as a vehicle to get your message through.
3. Communicate your goal
Every lesson has to have an objective and an action you want them to take. The key–don’t hide it!
If you hide it, they’re only thinking about what you’re hiding. Then all their attention is going towards figuring out what you want from them and what you’re not saying.
Make the goal something they will want. There has to be something in it for them. If you can figure that out, they will follow you to the moon.
4. Be interactive
Engage your students on as many levels as you can.
You only get around 15-20% retention from the spoken word. However, the more you can engage your students, the more that goes up.
Leave room for them to participate and own the lesson themselves. Engage them in conversation and dialogue. The more they participate the more they’ll remember. And, more importantly, the more the lesson becomes a part of them.
If you can get them to own it and integrate it into their thought processes, you’ll have them engaged and interested.
Catechetical Takeaway
As a catechist, you’re in the faith transformation business before you can be in the information dissemination business. You have to move their hearts before they’ll be attentive to your teaching.
Believe in your message, know what your students need, communicate where you’re taking them in the lesson and engage them in it. Do this and you’ll find your students caring about everything you teach.
Now it’s your turn:
- Did I miss anything?
- What techniques do you use to engage your students?
- How do you deal with students that don’t care about your teaching?
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You have to move their hearts before they’ll be attentive to your teaching.” That is why it is so important to begin with more than just a quick prayer. Prayer and helping them be open to what you will be presenting is key. Engage your audience from the very beginning helps them become more drawn into what will be taught and therefore “move their hearts”.
That’s a really good point William. I think you’re right–prayer is probably the best way of opening them up to more. I’m thinking you’re talking in terms of age-appropriate meditative prayer. However, anything more than a quick cursory prayer would be a great asset, adoration being the best!
I really like your first suggestion, “What’s your motivation?” All to often we teach something because we have to and not because we want to. If we’re not motivated to learn about a topic, we’re not going to convince anyone else to get motivated. It is always a good idea, to pull out something from a topic that you really enjoy or are interested it and highlight it with passion.
Hi Jared! Thanks for the comment!
I wonder how much of it has to do with confidence? If you’ve been in the classroom before, know your stuff and have seen results from your teaching methods before, chances are you will be going in confident. If you’ve seen the kids learn, grow and change, you’ll be able to project that assurance of your mission onto your students and they’ll respond.
Instead, so many of our catechists in CCD programs are first/second year volunteers. They haven’t had a chance to see results and so go in lacking confidence in their mission and their ability to pull it off. I wonder if there’s an effective way to build that confidence in new catechists?
Thanks Joyce! I’m so glad you said that! I think that’s one of the fundamental problems in CCD catechesis today…engaging the kids and really impacting them. If we can get them to care at an early age, I believe it will make a big difference in the teenage years when the indifference and apathy sets in.
Confirmation preparation is absolutely one of the worst in this regard. It’s partially the age and the stages they’re going through. But it’s partially also just as you say–families not practicing. Perhaps if we learn how to engage them we can at least take the edge off a bit huh?
Wow, what a great post. I get very frustrated by students lack of interest. # 2 spoke most to me most: “don’t try to be interesting, be interested…in them.” I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to come up with new and compelling ways to get their attention only to get more frustrated when they’re nonplussed. With only a few teaching days left I am already looking forward to doing better at this next year. Also, I liked #4: “Be interactive.” I watched a great teacher (on Jared’s blog re: prejudice – A Class Divided) and I was struck by how often the teacher asked a question. Almost everything she said was a question. As a first+ year teacher I spend way too much time talking. I’ve had to train myself to ask questions and be okay with silence until someone responds.
I wonder just how many years it takes to get good at this?! If I have any success it is most certainly the Holy Spirit!
I know, that’s the thing that got me the most too. You just come away deflated at the end of the session.
I’ve had to really work on being interactive and asking a lot of questions too. I naturally want to talk and fill up the time. I always have so much to say. But getting them in on the picture really is very beneficial.
It’s not always easy. The silence can become very uncomfortable. I’m getting better at it though and it works well. Now I often have the opposite problem of getting them to stop so I can cover the lesson! 😉 I don’t always get to everything I wanted to cover, but what I do cover sinks in.
Have patience and keep on plugging away. And, definitely keep looking to the Holy Spirit for your inspiration and success!
Thanks for the comments Allison!
“How do you deal with students that don’t care about your teaching?”
I tell them that’s ok. They can even sleep if they want to; but they may not do anything to interfere with the learning that the other kids are doing.
Every year in 6th grade catechism I get at least 2 kids who simply do not care. That’s fine. If they aren’t disruptive they wind up learning in spite of themselves.
If they are disruptive I throw them out. I will not let them ruin class for the good kids.
Really? I hate it when they don’t engage. Maybe it’s just my pride. 😉 But I want them to learn. It drives me crazy when they don’t. But often there’s not much you can do about it. You can’t force them to pay attention and learn. I suppose that’s a good attitude.
I definitely don’t let them ruin the class for others, which sometimes kids want to do. Do you have any wisdom on how to handle throwing them out?
“Do you have any wisdom on how to handle throwing them out?”
Ehhh…probably not wisdom, but:
If a student acts up enough to be a problem I get right down in his face and nicely say, “You know I said you don’t have to pay attention, but you can’t disrupt the other kids’ learning, right?” Uh-huh. “OK then, if you disrupt class again I will send you to the office for the rest of class, and during pickup I’ll speak to your parents about your misbehavior.”
Between my assistant and me, in seven years we’ve had to go beyond this warning with only 3 individuals that I can rememeber. In the last two years everyone was well-behaved. One child slept some this year, but they are tired at 6:30-7:30 pm on a schoolnight.
I guess that would pretty well do it. I guess the parent talk is a crucial element too.
Thanks Christian!